SOURCE: U.S. State Department
Media Note
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
April 21, 2016
QUESTION: Do you have a readout of the U.S.-Vietnam Human Rights Dialogue this morning? And then how does that pave the way for President’s travel to Vietnam next week?
MR KIRBY: I won’t speak to the President’s travel. I don’t think I have a readout of that – do I? I do. (Laughter.) I’m told that I have it. Oh yeah, here it is. There’s just so many tabs here. Thank you for that reminder, Elizabeth.
So I guess we’re going to – we do have a readout here. The – it was held today, with —
QUESTION: “Ask the Vietnamese.”
MR KIRBY: — I have it right here; I just had to find it – with Tom Malinowski, our Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, as well as the Vietnamese ministry of foreign affairs, their department of internal organizations director. So there was – those are the leads of the respective delegations. It covered a wide range of human rights issues, including the importance of continued progress on legal reform efforts, rule of law, freedom of expression and assembly, religious freedom, labor rights, disability rights, LGBTI rights, multilateral cooperation, as well as individual cases of concern. The promotion of human rights, as you know, remains a critical part of U.S. foreign policy and a key aspect of our ongoing dialogue within the U.S.-Vietnam comprehensive partnership.
I won’t get ahead of presidential travel or agenda, but we’re glad to have this discussion today.
QUESTION: Were any high-profile cases being discussed?
MR KIRBY: I’m sorry?
QUESTION: Were there any high-profile cases, such as —
MR KIRBY: As I said, they were – they discussed individual cases of concern. I’m not going to detail any more than that.
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2016/04/256566.htm
